Advice on name dropping/nepotism

[fairyqueen]

I'm applying to 2 different MPH programs in my area. I have sumitted one application.

The second school that I havent submitted yet, happens to have employed a close family member. This family member was head of an entire department (undergrad, and graduate). They worked there for many years. In fact, when they retired the school BEGGED them to stay. For years now the university has begged this person to come back. This family member has given me their blessing to mention them, and even offered to call the admissions department and the head of public health.

In my SOP for this school I didnt mention the fact that I'm related to this person. I'm having a moral dilemma about whether or not to name drop them. This program doesnt interview. This family member and I have different last names, and there would be no way to connect us if it wasnt mentioned. Would mentioning this relative in my SOP be just giving myself an edge over other applications, or playing dirty. I can't quite bring myself to name drop. My friends are 50/50 in their advice. Maybe strangers can help?

[TakeruK]

Does your family member know you in a "professional" or "academic" way? If the only connection you really have is that you're related, then I don't think name-dropping would help you very much -- the admissions committee will probably think "oh that's nice" or "so what?", or maybe even negatively. I also can't think of a way you could work in the "name-drop" if you didn't work with or study with this person.

In general, I think what helps more than name-dropping is getting the person to contact the people involved directly. For example, I was working in the same group as a post-doc (but we didn't work together) and applying to their former supervisor. The post-doc sent their former supervisor an email that basically said that "hey, I know this guy that is applying to your school, and I think he's pretty good!" etc. Similarly, it might be helpful if your profs who know people at other schools put in a good word for you (but generally with profs, the normal way of doing this is through the LOR).

I don't think it's a moral dilemma to use any connections you have to help your application. For example, if you had met some profs that you wanted to work with before applying (maybe at a conference, maybe they visited your department/your prof, or maybe even a random chance encounter), and you made a good impression, you might have an advantage over other applicants because of this extra opportunity to make a good impression. This is okay and I think very common in academia. Sometimes people might even say "I'll only accept your admission offer if you also admit my [spouse/significant other] etc." Sometimes profs are hired in this way too. But sometimes these things can backfire (if the student's spouse wouldn't have normally been accepted, they might not be able to do well in classes etc. or the school might not be a good fit at all).

But in your case, if your family member has nothing to say about you other than "he/she is my relative and I think they're great", then it is not going to help (in my opinion) so it's not really a dilemma! I don't think you have anything to gain from name-dropping but it might hurt!

[R Deckard]

Do you think being related to this person makes you more deserving of a spot in said graduate program?

If so, go for it...

[fuzzylogician]

I'd refrain from mentioning your relative in the SOP since that could backfire, but if your relative is willing to pull strings on your behalf by calling the department or whatnot I'd suggest trying that. Your relative must know how the academic world works so I believe they could approach this without offending anyone.

[fairyqueen]

I'm glad I didn't say a name in my SOP! I'm still on the fence about having the call made. It just feels wrong, but then my ambition starts whispering in my ear. Lol. Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it.